Electric switch



H. S. FREEMAN AND F. ZENKER.

ELECTRIC SWITCH APPLICATION FILED 0CT.29, i917- Patelited Dec. 13, 1921.

anue wto'zg UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY s. rR Em, or mrr'norr, AND mrcmean, ASSIGNORS T SQUARE D romrron or MICHIGAN.

FREDRICK ZENKER, OF HIGHLAND PARK, COMPANY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A. COR- ELEoTRIc swrrcn.

. To all :wlzmn. it may concern;

Be it known that we, HARRY S. FREEMAN, a citizen of the United States, and FREDRICK ZENKER, a subject of the Emperor of Ger many, residents of Detroit, county of Wayne and State of Michigan, and of Highland Park, county of Wayne and State of Michigan, respectively, have invented certain new and 'useful Improvements in Electric Switches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to electric switches and with regard to certain more specific features thereof to combined fuse-carrying and circuit-controlling switches.

In our co-pending application 198,256, filed October 24, 1917, we have shown one form of fuse-holding switch which may be 'nomical use of space is necessary.

readily assembled from parts, the majority of which are of standard construction. As such parts may be produced by theusual machinery, they are much cheaper than the .special parts which have heretofore been used. In addition, such standard parts have a known performance. The type of switch which is exemplified by an embodiment there shown is very satisfactory where ec0- An object of our invention 1s to improve a switch of the above type, in that we are able to dispense with nearly all the special parts of that switch. While our improved switch is a little longer than the one described in the prior application, it still shows a very economical use of space.

Another object of the invention resides in the construction and arrangement of certain of the contacts which makes for a high degree of accessibility and enables the operator to attach and detach the fuse from its contacts with ease and convenience.

. Compactness and the reduction of parts to' a minimum are other objects of the in vention. a

Further objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

ile our invention may take form in many different embodiments, we will describe in detail one of these embodiments showing a construction having one convenient arrangement of parts and combination of elements for making up a switch. The scope of our invention is, however, to be limlted solely by the claims and the prior state of the art.

Specification of Letters Patent. 7 Patented Dec. 13, 1921.

\ Application filed October 29, 1917. Serial No. 198,918.

the line aken on the line several views, there is indicated at 1 a base block of insulating material to which is attached the copper angle member 2. The attaching means comprises a screw 3 passed upwardly from the bottom of the base block" through, one arm of the angle member and through the tang of a terminal member 4, the terminal member and angle member being secured together and to the base by a nut 5. The upstanding arm 6 of the angle member 2 is apertured toreceive a pivot stud 7 comprising a head 8 and a shank 9, a portion of the shank being threaded as indicated at 10 to receivea nut 11.

Secured to an insulating bridge element 15 by means of a screw 16 is a clip contact 17 having in the form shown a flat attaching portion 18 and depending walls 19 bowed inwardly as at 20'and continued in the form of spaced jaws 21 which straddle the upstanding wall 6 of the angle member 7 and which are apertured as at 22 to receive the shank of the pivot stud 7. Bearing against the outer surfaces of these aws 21 on either side are the compression disks or spring washers 23 which are given a suitable tension by manipulation of the nut 11 on the threaded portion 10 of the pivot bolt. By this mechanism the clip contact '17 may be pivotally mounted on the upstanding arm 6 of the angle member 2 with sufiicient ten-' ing element are' in the form shown in longitudinal alinement and clips 30 and 31 are adapted to detachably receive a cartridge fuse '40 by means of its extendingflattened knife-blade terminals. 41 and 42. The clip contacts 30 and 31 are similar in construction, each provided in the form shown witha flat comparatively wide attaching portion 43 from which there are depending side walls 44 bowed inwardly as at 45 and. thence downwardly as at 46 to form substantially parallel compression jaws. At the joint where the inward bow 45 meets the downward extension 46 a small projection 47 is struck inwardly to serve as a limiting stop for the fuse terminals when the latter are inserted between the spaced walls 46. In (position to engage with the contact 31 when the bridge 7 element 15 is pivotally moved toward the base 1 there is mounted on the latter a clip contact 50 which comprises a flat attaching base 51, upstanding parallel walls 52 bent over as. at 53 and7downwardly as at 54, the

[downward extensions providing contact jaws adapted to bear against the outer surfaces of the Walls or jaws 46 of the clip contact 31. i

-When the parts are in their position as nal 56. The clip contacts 30 and 31 being.

insulated from each other by the bridging element 15 and the contacts 2 and 50 being insulated from'each other by the base '1, the

circuit between the latter contacts necess'arily includes the fuse. If the fuse blows it is only necessary to manipulatefthe brid'g ing eler'nent15 by. a handle '60 to separate the contacts 31 and 50, whereupon the blown fuse may bequickly and conveniently re-' moved, and a new fuse-attached in" place thereof. Particular attention is directed to the simplicity and compactnesof the present construction.

As many changes couldv be made in the above, construction and asmany apparently widely diflerent of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all qnatf ter set forth in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying'drawings shall limiting sense. I

QWhat-is'cIaimed is 1. In an-electric switch, the combination with a flat terminal fuse member, a base member and spaced contact members'mounted thereon -oneof which comprises a U- shaped member, the outer ends of which are bent inwardly over and downwardly to form spaced double-wall resilient legs that are upstanding from the, base, of a carrier comprising a [pair of spaced contact members each having a' pair of* resilient jawmembers that are severally adapted to reoeive-between-said jaw-members in sliding engagement the flat terminal member, one of said carrier contact members with the interposed flat terminal member being received in sliding engagement in said U- shapedficontact member mounted on said base.

2. In: an electric switch, the combination with a base member and spaced' contact members mounted thereon one'of which 0 prises a U-shaped member, the outer ends of which are bent inwardly over and down wardly to form spaced double-wall resilient legs that are upstanding from the base and the other serving as a pivot. member, of a carrier pivotally secured to said pivot member, a pair of spaced contact members secured to said carrier each having a pair of resilient jaw-members, and ,a fuse e ement provided with flattened terminals that are received in sliding engagement in said car.

rier contact'members, one of said carrier contact members with the interposed flat fuse terminal being adapted to engage in knifeblade' fashion said 'U-shaped base contact v member. 1

3. In an electric switch, the combination with an insulating base member and spaces.

contact members mounted thereon one of which comprisesa Ux-shaped member, the

ber, of a carrier, contact members secured to the under side of said earner, one

of said contact members being pivoted to. said contact pivotxmembers mounted on the base, and a fuse element having flat terminalsslidingly secured to said carrier con- ;e'lement, received ingsliding engagement in said .u-shaped contact member inountedpn the base. I be interpreted as illustrativeand notin HARRY-37S. FREEMAN. v rRnpRIo ZENKER.'

tact members, one of which, in combination with its-interposed flat terminal of said fuse 

